Forklift trucks are commonly used to move and/or lift materials stacked on pallets which are commonly constructed of wood. These pallets are often damaged by being struck directly by the lift blade. Such trucks are also used to lift barrels and the lift blade is capable of piercing a barrel. If the pierced barrel is containing ink or other non-hazardous materials, the result is merely time lost due to the inconvenience of cleaning a messy spill. If the barrel is containing radioactive or other hazardous materials, then the potential exists for serious injury or loss of life. Additionally, the bare metal blade can create sparks when scraped across a concrete floor or against a concrete pillar. This spark can create an explosion if it occurs in an environment laden with flammable vapors or volatile liquids.
Forklift trucks are often used to load and unload materials from the trailer of a transfer truck. Experience has shown that the side walls of the trailer are often pierced by the forward extending blades as the forklift truck is maneuvered within the trailer.
Prior art devices relating to the blades of forklift trucks are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,282,201 issued to Neuman on May 5, 1942; U.S. Pat. No. 2,690,271 issued to Marietta on Sep. 28, 1954; U.S. Pat. No. 2,817,792 issued to Chew on Dec. 24, 1957; U.S. Pat. No. 3,561,628 issued to Melin on Feb. 9, 1971; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,464 issued to Schuster on Jul. 25, 1978. These devices often require extensive modifications to the blade or to the carriage or are not intended to protect against sparking or puncture damage.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a blade cover that encloses and pads the tip end, or toe, of the blade of a forklift truck with a resilient compressible material thus substantially preventing damage to pallets, barrels and trailers.
Another object of this invention to provide a blade cover that prevents the toe of the blade from striking a concrete floor or other concrete obstruction and creating sparks that could result in an explosion.
Another object of the invention is to provide a shield to assist in preventing damage to freight carried by a forklift.
It is another object of this invention to provide a blade cover that can be fitted to any forklift truck blade without extensive modification of the blade.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a blade cover that can be sized so as to prevent entry of the blade into certain type slats thereby preventing picking up of certain types of pallets.
Other objects and advantages over the prior art will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the detailed description together with the drawings as described as follows.